Sowing Good Consequences for Eternal Life

Sometimes we can’t see how the things we do now will affect our future. But a young man who made many mistakes can help us understand how God sees things.

“Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O LORD.”

These words, written by King David in Psalm 25:7, are very interesting because they allow us to see various aspects of the character that this servant of God demonstrated throughout his life.

God called David “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22). However, like all humans, he had flaws in his character and errors in his conduct. But he did maintain a sincere heart that was willing to keep God’s commandments and correct his path to obey his Creator.

Sins of youth

Let’s analyze Psalm 25:7. When King David speaks about the sins of his youth, it suggests he wrote these words at a mature age. It is interesting that the prophet Samuel had anointed him years earlier when he was still a young man.

Some biblical commentaries estimate that David was around 17 years old when he was anointed by Samuel: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13).

Despite the fact that God looked at David’s heart and was pleased, and despite the fact that the Spirit of God came upon him, he committed sins as all humans do. However, David always remained willing to be corrected, to separate himself from the wrong path and to never commit the same sin ever again.

What we sow, we reap

When we are young, and throughout our lives, we are being tested to perfect the character that God wants us to form for our own good. During our youth we tend to think the consequences of our actions that go against the Eternal won’t hurt us; but that is not how it works. Although we don’t realize it at that moment, the reality is that everything we sow, we will reap, whether we are 15, 20, 25, 35, 50 or older.

David made mistakes during his youth, and they had consequences! The consequences were so severe that King David asked God to forget about the sins and rebellions of his youth years after the events. We can understand that it was something that was hurting him. That is one of the consequences of sin: It leaves deep and painful wounds. And if we don’t repent of sin, it carries the ultimate penalty of eternal death.

However, the Bible doesn’t tell us about all the details of David’s sins and rebellions. The Bible isn’t as specific about them because we don’t need to know the details of those incidents. God doesn’t want us to focus on them. God wants us to focus on having a heart willing to repent and obey Him; a clean and generous heart; a heart that is willing to recognize God as our Creator despite our human imperfections; a heart that humbles itself and recognizes the faults, sins and rebellions that we commit.

Above all else, He wants us to have a heart that is determined to not fail Him again; a heart that desires to walk shoulder to shoulder with our brothers following Jesus Christ. We must always have the eternal law written on our hearts to avoid falling, because a willing heart knows that sin brings consequences—some sooner than others, but consequences nonetheless.

King David committed many errors throughout his life. He had to pay some of the physical consequences for those errors, but his heartfelt repentance and love for God and His laws were appreciated by God, who forgave him. David maintained that love for the law of God and didn’t falter on the path that our Creator called him to. At the end of the day, David will be in the Kingdom of God (Jeremiah 30:9).

Seeking good consequences

Just like King David, we must be conscious of the fact that the actions we do today, good or bad, will bring consequences—good consequences or bad consequences. Let’s strive to sow good works in righteousness so that we can have good consequences. That is the only way to reap eternal life.

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:8).

For more about reaping what you sow, see “4 Spiritual Laws That Are as Important as Gravity.”

Translation by Corbin Jackson